Seifer knelt, his breath coming in spurts. Clutching his chest, blood dripping from his lips. He shakily raised his head to see Squall standing before him, eyes coolly surveying his battered form. Unresponsive and unwavering as always. It was almost more infuriating than it would have been had he pointed at Seifer and laughed mockingly.
Seifer hated to lose.
He especially hated to lose to Squall.
It bruised his ego more than anything else. It was one of the reasons why he tended to pick on people. He liked being the one to unveil a person's insecurities and then gift them with the horror of ridicule for it. And sometimes, it was irresistible to rile up his victim, especially when it was that Chicken-Wuss. Although somehow, that nickname didn't have quite the same ring to it right now. Not with the little bastard standing there, and staring at him with what looked like...pity?
Not only was Seifer on the other side of glory- again—but he felt like he'd been spit on by the universe as well. And that made him groan as he doubled up from a much different kind of pain.
Seifer had never felt so lost. Unwanted. Unliked. Not so different from the little lost boy Edea had accused him of being when he'd first switched sides. It felt like a lifetime had passed since then.
Seifer coughed, blood spattering on the floor. Shit, he thought.
Losing really hurt.
It's hard to admit that you're wrong sometimes.
You have this dream, this desire to be more than you are, and it uplifts and rips into you at the same time, making you wish you just had the opportunity. And then it comes, and you can't say no because you'd hate yourself for the rest of your life if you did.
I get it, Seifer.
You want to make something of yourself. It just wasn't happening at Garden. Your destiny was to pursue your own stance on righteousness. In a way, you always were an oddball, even as part of the disciplinary committee. You'd abuse your power and pick on people who were half your size just because you could. I remember when you used to tease me about my overly concise manner of speech. It was so irritating that I almost erupted into a rant at one point. Almost.
So why do I now care about you as much as if you were my own flesh and blood?
Don't you see that now you're the one who's being manipulated? Like an eager child who's just dying to get his hands on a toy that's always dangling just an inch out of reach? It's almost sad to imagine you bent over, wheezing pathetically as you keep fighting a losing battle. Even as Squall gifts you with yet another scar to add to your collection, you keep staggering back to your feet, unable to let it go. Deliriously chanting to yourself, just one more battle, this time I won't fail, I'll never allow myself to live with the humiliation...
A sad fact of life is that the hardest thing to do is usually also the right thing. I just hope you'll see the light before it's too late and you end up with more than just a gash to mar your face and a gunblade impaling your pride.
Just come back to Garden with us, Seifer, and be what I think your destiny is. To be the embodiment of true bravery.
The humble guy I know you are deep, deep down.